Monday, September 1, 2014

Twice Lost by Jennifer Field

Jenna Thanatos is discovering that life isn't what it
always seems. Just an ordinary girl with a healthy sexual appetite, she soon
learns there are such things that "go bump in the night" and she's
one of them. Can she accept who she really is? Can she save the sexy men in her
life and herself before it's too late? Join Jenna on her life altering journey
and learn what it's like to be a Harbinger.

Book Excerpt:

The Underworld

The rain and stench of rotting flesh
permeated the Harbinger’s senses. He dragged his victim through the massive
gate leading to the ferry. The man, whose name he didn’t care to learn, was
another fine upstanding citizen of the human race: child molester, rapist,
murderer. This fate was almost too kind for him.

The man kicked and screamed
obscenities at the large winged creature that held him. “Where are you taking
me, you ugly fucking beast?” The screaming man looked around and the scene he
saw was something out of a horror movie. Several massive winged creatures
dragged both men and women to the edge of river, unfazed by their victim’s
screams or cries for help. Each stood sentinel, waiting for their turn to board
the ferry.

The mountains and terrain were
charred black. No life grew here; no sunlight penetrated the sky above that
swirled with red and black clouds unlike any he had ever seen. The lightning
marred the landscape, setting fire to brittle, lifeless trees. He held back
gagging as the smell of burning flesh overwhelmed him.

“I never did anything, bring me
back.” He struggled against the thick chain wrapped around his neck, pulling
with all his might; yet, unable to budge the beast that dragged him further
into this nightmare.

The Harbinger lifted the man by the
thick chain, cutting off his supply of putrid air; his black claws
dripping with blood from where he had reached into the man’s chest, pulling out
his soul to drag it to hell.

The man stared into eyes that were
solid black pools, devoid of any feeling. “I am not your judge, nor your jury.”
The creature pulled him closer, revealing his massive fangs. “But, I have seen
what you have done. Death is too lenient for you.” The creature flared its
black wings and let out an unearthly growl.

Urine ran down the man’s leg and
onto the Harbinger’s booted foot. He tossed the man back down onto the ground,
still holding tight to the chain. He heard the distinct crunch of breaking bone
as the man’s body hit the ground in the most unnatural of positions.

A smile curled along the Harbinger’s
lips, the soul had corporeal substance in the underworld. More importantly, it
felt pain, but would not die. This man would beg for a death that would never
come. Each day would bring endless pain and suffering, no other existence
waited for him.

“You have no right to bring me here,
I repented!”The man’s screams were one among
many as the souls of the unrighteous waited to cross one of the five rivers.

“Did your victims beg? Did you show
them any mercy?” His clawed hand came down over the man’s skull and inundated
his mind with images from his young, helpless victims. Flashes of an innocent
face stricken with fear, a mother’s grieving heart as she identified her
child’s broken, lifeless body.

“Stop please, I repent, I repent!
I’m sorry for everything I have ever done. Please, I repent my sins.” The man
shook with such fear, and broke into prayer. “The lord is my Shepherd…”

The creature looked down at him as
he heaved him closer to the river’s edge. “There is no God that will save your
soul now, it belongs to me. And, my payment lies beyond the river.” He pointed
across the river to their destination.

The man watched as creature after
hideous creature approached the ferry with their victim dragging behind. The
ferryman held out his hand for payment to cross. The man watched as the
creature held out its hand, revealing a coin that floated just above its palm.
The ferryman took the coin and turned it back and forth, inspecting it, testing
its weight. When he was satisfied, he nodded his head and the creature and victim
entered the ferry.

This was repeated as several of the
creatures and their charges entered the ferry. His creature stood, waiting, as
the boat drifted into the mists of the river.

“Why did we not board the boat?
There was clearly room left.”

The creature, again, lifted the
chain and looked into the man’s eyes as he watched him struggle for breath. His
eyes began to bulge and his face puffed out in bright crimson. “Those people
still have hope. You, do not. Our destination lies elsewhere.”

The creature dragged him along the
river’s sulfur coated banks. He looked in and saw that the water was full of
bloated bodies that still wriggled with pain, their skin bursting open and
oozing a black liquid.

“Where is our boat?” Though he tried
to sound as if he were the one in charge, the man’s voice rattled with fear. He
picked up a stone within his grasp and threw it at the Harbinger’s head,
hitting him square in the back of his skull.

The Harbinger swung around, grabbing
the man by the throat and pinning him against the dead trunk of a tree. His
features seemed much more demon-like now that he was truly angry. His
cheekbones jutted out at an extreme angle, his horns curled back along his bald
head, and his fangs protruded from his mouth.

A growl emanated from him as he
sniffed at the air, scenting nothing but the man’s fear. “Perhaps you are
unaware of the severity of your predicament, human.” He spoke with ultimate
disdain for the man. His claws began to penetrate the struggling man’s throat,
small drops of blood running down his neck and arm, dripping onto the ground.

“You are the lowest form of vermin
down here. You have no idea what true torture is.” A grub-like creature crawled
from the petrified bark of the tree. Its mouth was rows upon rows of rotating teeth.
It was attracted to the blood that dripped down. He watched in horror as its
head began to burrow into his arm, its body slowly disappearing under

his flesh. The man screamed as the
creature ate its way up his arm, under his skin.

The grub continued to work its way
up the man’s arm, its white body covered in an acidic slime causing the skin
above it to bubble. The Harbinger held the bug under his skin and sweat ran
down the man’s face, the stench of feces permeating the air.

“Your skin will be flayed from your
body, your eyes will be gouged out, and every orifice you have will be violated
by creatures so hideous, your nightmares couldn’t conjure them.” The Harbinger
continued his detailed description of what the man’s eternity would be like,
projecting the images into the man’s thoughts as he spoke. “Then, finally, when
you think you can’t take another minute, your body will be healed, your pain
will be gone, and the process will start again.”

The Harbinger let go of the man and
he slumped down the tree trunk to the burnt ground. Tears and uncontrollable
sobs left the man. Covered in his own waste, the man crawled to the massive
creature that stood in front of him and groveled at his feet.

“What can I do? Please, tell me what
I have to do.” His words were barely understandable between his sobbing and
screaming as the grub ate its way out of the man’s neck and dropped to the
ground, having gorged itself.

The Harbinger looked down at his
palm that now had a light glow to it. The coin that usually sat as a tattoo now
hovered just above his palm. It’s distinct and unique emblem of a skull
surrounded by thorns clearly evident.

He looked down at the man groveling
at his feet. “Our ride approaches.” He grabbed the end of the chain and hauled
it over his massive shoulder, allowing the man to dangle and scream behind him
as he made his way to the dock.

The Harbinger walked toward the
ferry, holding out his hand. Charon took the coin and nodded for him and his
charge to board. No other passengers boarded this ferry.

“Why do no others board?” The man
had to know why he was the only passenger aboard this ferry.

The creature put the man down and
let go of the chain, knowing that if the man decided to jump into the river,
his fate would be the same as the other bloated bodies that drowned for
eternity. A far better fate than this man deserved, but would allow no option
for payment.

The ferry drifted slowly down the
river instead of across as the other boats had done. Again, the man questioned
his fate. “Why does this boat not cross the river? Surely this is the famed
River Styx. My doomed fate must await me on the other side.”

The Harbinger looked down at the
man. “Your fate does not lie on the other side of the River Styx. We will cross
Phlegethon, the river of fire.” He pointed down the river to a fiery orange
glow just beyond the horizon.

“And, what if I jumped and swam to
freedom? Wouldn’t I then be allowed a second judgment, having made it to
shore?” The man looked at the shore line a mere twenty or thirty feet from the
boats edge. Surely he could make it.

The massive man-creature approached
him, grabbing him by the wrist. “You are more than welcome to try.” He lowered
the man’s hand into the black water of river.

Pain shot up the man’s arm as he
watched his skin then meaty tissue melt from his hand, leaving only bone. His
bloodcurdling scream did nothing to stop the creature from lowering his arm
further into the muck. The black water seemed to grab onto his arm and crawl up
to his elbow, blood gushing into the water.

The creature released the man’s arm
and looked at his own hand that was unaffected. The man clutched his arm, now
nothing more than bone and dangling tendons. “You are more than welcome to
swim.” The Harbinger laughed out as he spoke.

At the sight, the man vomited bile
over the side of the boat. Curling his knees against his chest, he watched as
the fiery glow grew closer, the stench of sulfur and rot overwhelming him once
more.

As the ferry drifted down the River
Styx and slowly began its turn onto the River Phlegethon, the black, murky
water slowly changed. It smelled of petroleum and the surface burned around the
boat. The deeper the boat traveled, the hotter and higher the flames became.

The man peered over the side,
straining to see past the inferno that burned before him. He was sure that the
flames would consume the boat before they reached their destination. Yet, the
ferry drifted through them, unaffected.

The Harbinger stood as still as
death, looking out past the flames. His wings stretched out from his massive
back, spanning across the width of the boat, the tips now singed from the
flames.

As the boat glided through the river
of fire toward its final destination, the man had to know what this creature
was that held him. “Are you death? The grim reaper? The devil?”

Black eyes immediately met his. “For
you, I am all those things and more. Your very soul now belongs to me and it is
mine to do with as I see fit.” The demon slowly turned back to look at the
approaching shore.

“Then you can be bargained with, I
would presume.”

No matter their background, each
soul he brought across Phlegethon thought that bargaining would gain them
passage to another, better place. In the countless millennia that he had been
taking souls across, no bargain was ever worth consideration, but all tried.

Again, the creature turned to face
the man. This time, his eyes were no longer the black, endless pools that had
faced him before. They were now as blue and clear as a summer’s sky. “I have
riches beyond your wildest dreams, what could you ever have that I would want?”

The ferry hit the shore with a clank
as the ferryman wrapped the chain around a post. At a second glance, it was not
a post at all, but a pillar of skulls and bones stacked at the river’s edge.

The creature grabbed the chain that
was around the man’s neck and pulled him to his shaky feet. Fear overcame him
and the man’s legs refused to move, his muscles freezing in protest. With a tug
of the chain, the man lunged forward, tripping over his own feet into the back
of the creature that held him.

This new land made the place they
had just come from look like a paradise. The sky was no longer a swirl of black
and red, but an ominous gray-green that kissed the molten landscape; fire and
stone encompassing his line of vision. The creature pulled him toward two
massive gates made of human bone. The screams of pain and despair could be
heard beyond the gate.

The man pulled on his chain, begging
the hell spawn to stop his forward trek. “Please, again, I beg you. I can give
you something no one else can. All I ask is that you let me go here. I’ll make
my way on my own.”

The gate and the payment for this
soul laid within reach. Yet, something in this human’s voice made him pause. He
had been offered everything and anything to bring a soul back, but never had he
been asked to just let a soul go. Here at the gate of Nephtal, of all places.

“Why would you have me just let you
go? You have crossed over the river of fire, there is no way back. All hope for
you is gone.”

“My soul is damned, I know that.
But, in there…” he nods his head toward the tall gates, “I won’t be able to
even attempt to make up for the sins I have committed.”

The creature pulled the chain,
dragging the man’s face up to his own. “There is no do over, your time has
come. Your soul has been damned to this place.”

He continued his walk to the massive
bone gate, dragging the man behind him; kicking, screaming, and begging to be
set free.

Finally reaching the gate, a
creature of massive proportions stepped out, pushing the immense gate open.
This new monster, an odd combination of wild boar and almost human, stood twice
the height of the one who dragged him across the river.

Its skin was black and scaled,
appearing almost grey with the dirt caked into his features. Greenish pus oozed
from welts around its wrists, ankles, and neck where huge shackles bound the
creature to the gate.

“Please, there’s a girl I know you
would be interested in.” The man tried to dig his heels into the burnt and
smoking ground.

The demon stopped, looked at the man
he had chained, and laughed. “A woman? You expect me to let you go by offering
me a woman?” He laughed once more, condescendingly, and continued through the
gate.

The Harbinger dragged the man passed
the gatekeeper to a small tent just on the opposite side and pulled him past
the threshold. Silently, the soul wondered what creature he would see next. He
expected a cloven footed devil or another winged beast, but what sat on
the other side of a golden desk was neither of those things.

Leaning casually back in the chair
with her perfect, black, stiletto heels crossed on the top of the impressive
gold desk was a woman, her make-up and features model perfect. Her long, blonde
hair was neatly pulled back in a high ponytail.

She wore a white, button-down shirt
that barely closed over her ample breasts and a black pencil skirt. The man
eyed the woman and followed the lean curve of her legs to her thigh, revealing
the lace at the top of her thigh-high, silk stockings.

She looked like an angel in the
otherwise hellish nightmare. She could have been his angel sent from heaven to
save his damned soul. But, the fiery glint in her deep brown eyes led him to
believe she was anything but the angel he saw seated before him.

She stood as they walked in, giving
the creature that dragged his chain a devilish and familiar smile.

“Hello, Harbinger.” Her voice was
sultry and oozed sex.

The Harbinger slipped the end of the
chain over a six foot tall spike in the ground. “Hello, Pesta. Where’s my
payment?”

Pesta tossed a sack of gold onto her
desk, continuing to eye the Harbinger that stood in front of her. He reached
for the sack of gold but was intercepted by her hand running up the length of
his muscular, tattooed arm.

“I’m sure you’ve had a long, hard
journey, wouldn’t you rather something a bit softer and hotter than gold to
soothe your weary bones? The offer of my bed isn’t something I give to just
any…man.” She ran her tongue over her perfect, red, glossy lips.

“I’ve told you before, Pesta, I
never mix business with pleasure.” With that, he picked up his bag of gold and
turned to leave.

The man he had brought in stepped in
front of him, a feeble attempt to block his path. The Harbinger raised his arm
to backhand the man out of his way.

The man quickly whispered into the
Harbinger’s ear words he never thought he would hear—an offer too good to turn
down.

“What’s your name human?”

“It was Laird.”

With his arm poised to strike, he
instead flicked the chain off of the spike, leaving the man free to escape into
an eternity of pain. The man stood still for a heartbeat, staring into the
Harbinger’s still blue eyes. “Well, Laird, I would run if I were you, she’s not
as angelic as she looks.”

The Harbinger casually walked out of
the tent, past the gate, and back to the ferry, holding out the coin that
floated above his hand to Charon. As the ferry drifted back toward the River
Styx, he heard Pesta screaming for someone to stop the man that now ran past
the boned gate and into the fiery landscape.

Timoteus folded his wings against
his back and relaxed himself into the ferry as it floated back through the
fiery river. He reflected on what that man had said. A female Harbinger had
never existed, yet he was intrigued by his statement. “Her name is Jenna, she’s
one of you.”

1 comment:

Jen Field nails this genre on her first try! What an amazing book with incredible sexuality as a bonus. You cannot put this down without finishing it. The most rewarding book you'll EVER read. I already have multiple copies in various mediums so I can relive this over and over. Loved it!